It’s an absolute jungle out there when it comes to fashion magazines: the choice is extremely wide and many of us would probably be happy to spend their entire lives contemplating the mag racks in a Borders shop and forget about the rest of the world. Yet being the choice so wide doesn’t necessarily mean that you actually find too many clever publications. But, while passing through Padua railway station a few days ago, I spotted in a little but well-stocked newsagent the October issue of French publication Mixte Magazine with a very special present for its readers. 
Forget beauty creams, eyeliners, lipstick and fluide fondant samples, made in China tote bags and such likes, as this is a real fashion treat for both fashionistas and people who like tailoring. The present is indeed a tailoring pattern for Martin Margiela’s linen waistcoat, yes, you guessed it, the one that looks like a tailor’s dummy. The garment was part of the Belgian designer's Autumn/Winter 1997-98 collection that featured a few items in coarse linen cut into a bodice that resembled a tailor’s dummy. Margiela used the linen waistcoat to transform the foundation into the outerwear and the body into the dress and to question the logic and techniques of tailoring and pattern cutting. Skilled Mixte readers will be happy to try reinventing Margiela's original design or even try to apply the half front of a draped dress in silk chiffon as Margiela did in his garment that mimicked a dress in progress pinned to a Stockman dummy.
Decades ago, my aunt made a coarse linen jacket for my mum that wasn’t too different from the "dummy" waistcoats Margiela did in 1997. Sadly we don’t have that jacket anymore, but I’m thinking of reinventing it following the tailoring pattern that came out with Mixte and maybe do one waistcoat in coarse linen or waste canvas and one in thick grey felt in imitation of Joseph Beuys’s felt suit.
For those who have never seen it, Mixte is a good quality magazine featuring art, culture, fashion and music articles and it’s the sort of publication that can give joy also to non-French speakers thanks to its glamorous photo shoots. Apart from featuring an extensive article on the history of Martin Margiela and a series of shorter pieces on illustrators, artists, designers and creative minds from all over the world, this issue also includes articles on Pierre Hardy and Victoire de Castellane, a reportage on Istanbul seen from the eyes of Yazbukey's creators, sisters Yaz and Emel, and a photo shoot by Karl Lagerfeld featuring up-and-coming talented musicians and bands.
The Mixte Magazine present made me ponder a bit about fashion magazines and their silly giveaways: maybe if we would find pattern cuttings instead of make up samples we would be way more knowledgeable in fashion matters and also a bit more creative. Fashion magazine editors might better take example from Mixte then.
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Posted by: hillary doe | October 28, 2008 at 04:55 AM